When You're Gone
by Book girl fan
Summary: What really happened when Holmes was gone? Please Read and Review!
1. Chapter 1

**Holmes may be a bit out of character in this one. Please tell me what you think. **

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After the tragic events in Switzerland, Dr Watson came back a different man. At the start, he seemed utterly wrecked by Mr Holmes's death. When his wife died in an accidental shooting only a year later, we here at the Yard feared for the good doctor's life. To our relief, the doctor stood firm, but something changed about him. He no longer showed any sympathy for criminals. Sometimes I or one of the other inspectors would ask him to help us out with a case, and he was really quite good. Not at the standard of Holmes, but who was?

As time passed, there was a climb in the amount of suspicious deaths, and Dr Watson started to come on less and less cases. At first I didn't see a connection, then I didn't want to believe it. None of the deaths could be proved as murders, so there was no charge, but it was suspicious. They were all deaths of known criminals, who we could not file charges against. They all died of strokes, heart diseases, or other medical maladies, something a doctor would be sure to know about. I didn't want to believe the good doctor capable of such crimes, and as they could not be proved that they were anything other than pure chance, I would not ask questions. Was it really such a crime that these ruffians were to die? It was not worth risking the reputation of a good man over, and there was not even any crime.

Three years after Reichenbach, Holmes was back, and the mysterious deaths stopped. I thought it would all brush over, until one day Holmes came in looking for a case. I had brought out some of those old deaths, trying to find something, anything that could prove my instincts wrong. I wasn't having much luck, and Holmes could tell. Before I could stop him, he took one of the cases and started reading through it.

"Well, this is interesting. Are there more like this, Lestrade?" He asked. I considered lying, but it was pointless. He would know it before I even opened my mouth. "Yes. Over thirty, all supposed to be accidental."

"Obviously not though. Very clever, but not quite perfect. When was the last?"

"The last was only a week before your - hmm - return."

"No more since then?"

I shook my head.

"Peculiar. Why should he stop at my return?" Holmes lapsed into silence. I was distracted, hoping that he had found something that proved me wrong, as he so loved to do. "What have you guessed, then?"

He drew himself upright. "I never guess; it is destructive to the logical faculty. I have, however, deduced that these were all murders. The murderer was most likely a doctor, who had a particular hatred for criminals. This was prompted by the death of a loved one, most likely a family member or a spouse. Their death would have started this killing spree off.  
As for the killer, he was a doctor, average height and build, with a limp on his left side. Spent some time in Australia, and was once a soldier."

Holmes finished his soliloquy, and I groaned, head in hands. Not surprisngly, Holmes had noticed everything I had and more, and every point he made painted a clearer picture of the one man I desperately hoped was innocent. I looked at Holmes, and he had obviously not realized my thoughts, for he was still standing there looking smug. "Sound like anyone you know?" I asked wearily. He obviously still wasn't getting it, so I elaborated further. "Doctor, soldier, limp...?"

The smug look on his face morphed into one of horror, then disbelief. "Are you trying to suggest that Watson may be behind this?" he said coldly. "That is ridiculous. He does not even have a motive."

I laughed sarcastically. "Of course, his closest friend being pushed off a cliff couldn't be a motive, could it? And what about his wife?"


	2. Chapter 2

**It has been a while since I updated, so reread the last chapter if you don't remember what happened. **

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"What happened to Mrs Watson?" Holmes softly asked, his face drawn with grief.

"He didn't tell you?" I was surprised. I thought by now Holmes would have learnt about everything that had happened while he was away. After all, he had been back for a month now. Then again, Dr Watson was a rather private person, who didn't like to talk about his own affairs. I suppose he wouldn't want to share such a personal and presumably painful experience. Well, now I had to tell Holmes, in a probably pointless endeavor to make him understand the doctor's possible motive. "Two days before the first anniversary of your death, Mary Watson was visiting an old friend in one of the back streets of town. A man tried to rob her but it went wrong, and she was killed. Three weeks later, her baby was buried next to her."

"I never knew," Holmes murmured. "I knew she had died, but not how. And a child-?"

"Ask Watson," I suggested. "It might do him good to talk about it. You never know."

Holmes raised his eyebrow at me, in a look that clearly said, _You may not know Inspector, but I certainly do_. How Watson manages to live with that every day is a bigger mystery than any Holmes has solved. I huffed in annoyance. "I have some paperwork to do, so if you don't mind...?"

"I will be leaving then, Inspector. Good day."

Good. Maybe he would go to Watson and get something out of him, not that it will help me even if he does. Holmes is not good about sharing information, and sometimes we must resort to the doctor's stories to find out the details of a case! Another thing that will be sorely missed if Watson is involved in this. Without Dr Watson, Holmes is impossible to deal with.

I heard a crash coming from the street outside. There was a commotion on the street outside. All of a sudden, a constable came running into the room. "Beggin' your pardon, Inspector, but a cabbie just tried to run down Mr 'Olmes!"


End file.
